Silent Night (SYOC CLOSED!)
by AgentWriter
Summary: AU. Achlys, the goddess of misery and sadness is plotting the most terrifying revenge in her palace. Every single light on the Earth is threatened to be snuffed out, leaving only darkness in the world. A band of demigods, including their differences are chosen. Tasked with saving the world, will they be able make a united front to stop an ultimate disaster? SYOC CLOSED!
1. Marius Evans: The Bet

**Welcome to my SYOC! Here's a little bit to start it off. Hope you enjoy and submit!**

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 **Marius Evans, 19, son of Aphrodite**

" _And so I had a bet with her." I said, "If she reached the top of the lava wall first, I'd have to stand on the table during lunchtime while the other campers get to throw food at me."_

My siblings - Aphrodite's kids - listened attentively, they were excited to hear about what would happen of me.

" _But if I reached the top before she did, she'd have to wear clothes that the Aphrodite cabin picked out for her, for an entire day."_

The small audience cheered and laughed, picturing in their mind's eye an Ares girl wearing girly clothes. Oh well, fancy clothes and hairdo wasn't actually my kind of thing, but at that moment, I wanted to win. To prove to her, and the campers in Camp Half-Blood that Aphrodite's children were not useless. For countless times, we've tried to defend ourselves, but nothing action is louder than words. Someone had to step up and show them.

I knew my siblings were scared. Afraid of losing and bring down the entire cabin. They needed confidence. And as cabin leader, it was my duty to stand up for them.

 _Whether I lost or not. I was determined to keep trying until I finally made my point._

" _Deal." She said, sticking out her hand._

" _Oh, hang on!" I stopped her. "You need to swear on the Styx so that there is no backing out."_

 _She glared at me in disapproval, but did not hesitate. "I swear on the River Styx that if I lose, I'd wear whatever clothes your cabin mates wish for a whole day."_

 _Thunder boomed from a clear sky._

" _Good. Now my turn." I smiled. "I also swear on the River Styx that in the unlikely event that I lose, I'd let the campers throw food at me while I stand on the table in the pavilion."_

 _Again, a loud rumbling sound could be heard. The deal was sealed._

As I paused in my story for effect, Stacey, the youngest in the crowd said, "you really shouldn't have done that. Our cabin could have been so ruined."

"Shhhh," I hushed, patting her on the shoulders, "I'm not finished."

 _We sprinted off in the direction of the lava wall. Along the way, this girl took the initiative of yelling to the entire camp that we were having a competition. Everyone gathered around the wall when we started the race. The girl was so confident that she would crush me, that she wanted everyone to make sure that after this day, I would not be able to face anyone again._

"Please tell me you won, Marius?" She said in a small voice.

I gave her a comforting smile. "I did. And that girl really did wear a shocking pink dress with thick make-up and pink heels for an entire day."

The Aphrodite cabin whooped in joy and tears of laughter at my victory. I couldn't help but join in the celebration. We lay there, in the grassy patch just along the beach, laughing ourselves hoarse, and just enjoying each other's company.

Finally, when my head started to spin from all that laughing, I paused to take in a deep breath. That's when a someone stopped at my feet, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow onto my face.

Since she was standing against the sun, it took me a while to figure out who this was.

Wavy blonde hair, white long sleeved button which are folded up above the elbows, light blue-gray long pants. Damn it, it's the brainiac from the Athena cabin. What's her name again? _Knee? N -_ Oh right. Nea.

Nea Whitley. Ah, that girl gets on my nerves. Actually, it's the Athena cabin that ticks me off. Always have something to argue about. Poking their noses into things that doesn't concern them.

"Boasting again, eh, Marius? Your head must be so bloated from that one time when you won Kaylee in that lava wall race." She said, and adding in an undertone. "If you call that winning anyway, after tripping her as she almost got to the top."

See what I mean? Busybody. There you have it. And all Athena kids are just as bad.

"That was part of tactics. Kaylee was careless. And she should never have let her guard down." I defended. " Isn't that what you Athena kids always say? It's...battle strategy. You aren't about to tell me that isn't important, are you?"

Nea frowned at first, but then the corners of her lips started to twitch upwards. _This wasn't good,_ I thought, _this couldn't mean anything good._

"Okay, okay, Marius, if you say so." She grinned, "Since you think you're so good at it, why not we have a competition this time. Same thing: Lava wall. Whoever reaches the top first wins. Deal?"

It was a booby trap and I knew it. She was baiting me. I could just say no to that challenge and no one would think any less of the Aphrodite cabin. No one would think less of me. My mind was internally screaming at me - _don't take the bait!_

But before I could have thought through everything - the consequences, the humiliation if I lost - my mouth spoke first.

"Deal." I said immediately.

I know, I know. I regretted saying that the minute the word left my lips. Blame my impulsiveness. Speaking before thinking and all of that. But now that I'd agreed to the challenge there was no way I could back out. I'd be called a coward, and my ego just couldn't take it.

She gave me a knowing smile that made me want to turn and run away in the opposite direction as fast as my feet could carry me.

"Good. Now, swear it on the River Styx." she said.

I sighed, "Oh, come on. Have I ever not kept my word on a promise I made?"

Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded once. "Fine. Then let's get ready. Meet you at the lava wall." With that, she ran away, leaving me and my siblings lying on the ground.

"Now you're screwed." A guy said.

He's right. I know I was so doomed, but whining about it wasn't going to help anything.

"You can do it, Marius!" Stacey said encouragingly.

It was just the Athena cabin and the Aphrodite cabin standing at the foot of the lava wall. At least Nea hasn't taken it upon herself to announce it to the entire camp.

"Ready?" Nea asked as I rolled up the sleeves of my blue denim shirt so that it wouldn't get into the way.

"Yep. All set." I said. "May the best competitor win."

We counted down together, "in 3…. 2... 1…. GO!"

I leapt onto the wall, hands searching for a grip on the rocks. Avoiding the lava which trickled occasionally between the crevices in the rocks. I concentrated on getting higher, kicking my feet down on the rocks as I pushed myself up to earn an extra speed boost. However, as hard as I tried, I was neck to neck with Nea.

 _Maybe I still had a chance to win,_ I thought. _There was room for hope._

A little trick, maybe? I just needed to slow her down a little. Maybe if she lost her balance...I would be faster than her then.

I stuck out one of my legs and swiped it at her feet, knocking them clear. But she must have expected it, as she held on tight with her hands and continued going up the wall.

Dang, now I'd lost time trying to trick her.

Nea leapt over to my side of the rock wall and using her elbow, shoved me hard in the chest. I was pushed to one side and swung dangerously close to a stream of lava. Regaining my balance, I took another step upwards.

It was too late, Nea pulled herself up onto the top of the wall and watched as my fingers touched the top. Oh well.

"I win." She stated simply.

"Cheater." I replied.

"You tried to do it too. Besides, it's called 'battle strategy'."

The Athena cabin punched their arms in the air and cheered for Nea, but their celebration was stopped abruptly by Chiron, who cantered into the crowd.

"I'm sorry to break up your game," Chiron said, looking up at Nea and I with a twinkle in his eyes, "but we need to have an urgent meeting in the Big House right now. Gather all the campers and tell them to assemble there right after dinner."

The Aphrodite and Athena campers scattered away to pass on Chiron's message. Nea and I looked at each other before turning to look down at the centaur who stood at the bottom of the lava wall.

"What's this all about, Chiron?" I asked curiously.

"It's the god, Achlys. She's out for trouble. It's not good at all." He breathed deeply. "Come on down. I'll fill all of you in at the meeting." Then he galloped away towards the Big House.

If Chiron said it was bad, it was bad. Like, _really bad_ bad. I didn't have much idea on who this Achlys god was. But she sounded nasty. If she was out of control and was causing trouble in the world, we'd demigods would be left to do something.

And I had a feeling that a quest would be required. A small shoot of hope grew in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to go for a quest. I'd never been for one before, and had always wished that I was chosen for something big like this. Maybe I had a shot for getting in this one.

"Achlys is the goddess of Misery and Sadness. If she's messing around, things can really get out of control." Nea muttered to nobody in particular.

My stomach growled. "I'm gonna go down for dinner. I'm starving!"

Nea smirked. "You owe me a deal, remember? I hope you haven't forgotten."

Ah crap. Why did she have to remind me? To tell the truth, I hadn't made a binding oath. I didn't swear anything on the Styx. Technically, if I wanted, I could get away from it. But going back on my words wasn't my thing.

"Don't feel so pleased with yourself." I rolled my eyes, shoved my hands into my pockets and strolled towards the pavilion for dinner.

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 **And there we have the first chapter!**

 **SYOC information and rules**

 **1) Every part of the form must be filled up.**

 **2) Submissions by PM only. Review submissions will not be accepted.**

 **3) PM must be titled as follows - Name, Age, Godly parent**

 **4) Submissions will close on 15/3/16.**

 **5) Reviewing chapters would be really great even though it is not written in your OC's POV. I survive only on those reviews. I need to know what you guys think okay?**

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 **OC Form**

 **Name:**

 **Age: (15 - 19)**

 **Gender:**

 **Godly Parent:**

 **Appearance:**

 **Faceclaim: (Give me the name to Google. Don't give links.)**

 **Clothes:**

 **Personality:**

 **Strengths: (At least 3)**

 **Weaknesses: (At least 3)**

 **Backstory/History:**

 **Powers:**

 **Special/Magical Items:**

 **Fatal flaw:**

 **Fears:**

 **Romance?:**

 **Possible idea of character development: (May or may not be used)**

 **Relationship to Marius: (Rival/Friend/Best friend/friendly rival/romantic interest etc):**

 **Fill it in and PM me the form :) I'll be choosing about 4 to 5 OCs. I want to have a small cast so that we can concentrate more on character development and the plot! Thanks for submitting :)**


	2. Ferrer Cooper: Prophecy Renounced

**Before I start and before I announce all the chosen OCs to be in this story, I wanna say A BIG THANK YOU for submitting your OCs. I received plenty of submissions, and most of them were really really good. Unfortunately, I only need a few OCs, and I could only pick a small fraction of all of them.**

 **I'm really sorry if your OC was not picked (it doesn't mean they were bad). There're many better SYOCs out there that you can send them to.**

 **If your OC is chosen, I really do hope you'll review the chapters (I'm living off reviews).**

 **And now, here's what you've been waiting for. Below are the list of OCs and their respective authors that I'm using:**

 **Ferrer Fabrizio Cooper, 19, daughter of Hephaestus -** **Thedaffodilqueen  
Kai Lequinte, 18, daughter of Boreas - ****MadnessAndMe  
Aden Sennett, 17, son of Tyche - Magick From Your Heart  
Nile Argall, 19, son of Hermes - Blood Sentry  
Nea Whitley, 17, daughter of Athena - SilverDiamonds  
Marius Evans, 19, son of Aphrodite - AgentWriter (Yep, that's me!)**

 **Congrats! And let's move on to the actual chapter :)**

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 **Ferrer Fabrizio Cooper, 19, daughter of Hephaestus**

I carefully placed the palm-sized device into a cardboard box and sealed it with some tape. Then, striding over to the door of the Hephaestus cabin with the package in hand, I stepped out to meet Nea.

"There you have it." I smiled, showing her the end-product. "One monster-free cell phone as per requested by you."

Nea looked puzzled for a moment, but she quickly caught on. When she did, she gasped, "Wow! That's really fast! I only gave you the blueprints yesterday, and you were able to finish it all in one day? Amazing!"

"Well," I laughed, waving off her praise, "it was your blueprints remember? I just followed the instructions and brought it to life."

"Still, I couldn't have done it without you, and you did it." Nea paused, and the smile faded from her face, "but that wasn't why I came to your cabin for."

I raised my eyebrows, "and what is the real reason, girl?"

"Chiron just came barging into a little competition that we were having, and he told us to spread the word to every camper that there will be an important meeting after dinner." said Nea.

"Okay." I said slowly, "And did he happen to mention what this whole _thing_ is about?"

"Nope." Nea said simply.

"Right." I said, folding my arms across my chest. "By the way, have I mentioned that that horse is probably going loony?"

"Hmm?"

"He's been quite on edge since last week, I reckon." I remembered. "I hope he hasn't gone bonkers."

Nea clapped her hands together in excitement. "So it isn't just me! You've noticed it too. I thought maybe I was the one being paranoid."

"Yeah, well. Maybe you are." I giggled.

"What?" Nea said. "No, no. This is serious, Fairy. There has been something that Chiron found out last week but chose to keep it from us."

"Okay, speak your mind, Brainiac." I said.

"Maybe last week, Chiron thought that whatever it was, it wasn't too serious to get everyone panicking with the news. But today, it must have been out of control. He seemed pretty stressed out." Nea frowned.

"Still, following here."

"I wonder what has gone wrong...if it's the gods again…" Nea trailed off.

I held up my hands, "oh, come on. There's no point thinking about it now. It could be literally anything. Right now, I'd rather spend my time thinking about...food for instance."

"Hey, it's always good to be prepared for the bad news. But fine, I won't talk about it if you aren't too interested."

"What's on the menu for dinner?" I asked, rubbing my hands together.

We walked side by side to the dining pavilion where most of the campers had already assembled. Even from afar, I could hear the noisy chatter and the sound of metal cutlery clanking against the ceramic plates.

"Oh, the usual." Nea said casually. "Cheeseburgers and mashed potatoes."

"Mmmmmm." I laughed, hearing the growl from my stomach in approval.

"Aaaand, there's an extra special something." Nea said suddenly. "You won't want to miss this."

With that, she grabbed my wrist and started running at full speed towards the pavilion, tugging me along. I had no choice but to fall into a run to avoid my hand being wrenched out of its socket.

It was a rule that you had to sit on the same bench with your other cabin mates, and the minute I reached the dining pavilion, my other Hephaestus siblings waved me over to join them at a table somewhere on the right side. Although I very much wanted to go over to meet them, I just gave them a cheery smile and signaled at them to give me a minute because apparently Nea badly wanted to show me something.

"So...what is this that you wanted to show me?" I said curiously.

"Right. You're going to _love_ it. But you have to do something first." Nea said.

I waited, wondering what on earth she was talking about.

"Okay, see that guy over there sitting at the Aphrodite table?" Nea pointed.

I squinted. "You mean Marius? What's this got to do with him?"

Nea grinned mischievously. "Do me a favour, go up to him and say exactly what I tell you: What are you waiting for? A promise is a promise, Marius."

I was totally clueless as to what was going on, but it seemed like there was something fishy going on, and i didn't want to be left out of it, especially when Marius was involved. So I strode confidently up to him.

Marius, who had just put a large scoop of mashed potatoes into his mouth, looked up at me.

"To what do I owe you the pleasure of interrupting my savouring of this marvelous chunk of potatoes, Fairy?"

I bent down to whisper in his ear what Nea had instructed me to. "What are you waiting for? A promise is a promise."

The effect of my - or Nea's words, to be more accurate - on Marius was just hilarious. He seized up, shoulders tensing, and his spoon slipped out of his hand, falling to the floor.

"You - How did you know about it?" He said, trying to recover as though nothing had happened.

Still clueless, I thought that perhaps it would be fun to play along with it. "I have my ways."

"Nea told you…" He said, and he immediately spotted Nea standing to one side observing them.

"What's this about, Marius?" I asked.

He sighed, then placed his fork slowly on his plate. Standing up slowly, he took off his blue denim shirt, revealing the inner white T-shirt.

"Well, let's just get this over and done with." he said.

I watched him take a deep breath and walk over to the Athena table, who'd started to applaud at him as he came over. Marius stepped up on the bench, then onto the table.

"Here goes, guys. Have fun." He said.

That's when all Hades broke loose. It was the most vicious food fight ever to be seen. Actually, I wouldn't really call it a food fight. It was thoroughly one-sided; all the campers versus the aforementioned guy standing on the table, not to mention that he wasn't attempting to fight back.

It was the most amusing sight since a couple of months ago, when some Ares's kid was dressed up in entirely pink clothes. Except that this time, it was a little strange seeing that it was the Athena kids, who were usually the serious, level headed ones, starting this whole mess. And it was even more strange seeing Marius, an Aphrodite kid - though he was not your typical Aphrodite stereotype - being made into a food throwing target.

I wasn't one who'd let bullying pass under my nose without doing anything about it. I'd have stepped up and stopped this whole humiliating mess from getting worse if it wasn't Marius on the table. I knew him well enough that if he wanted to, he would stand up for himself. Besides, it was clear that he was attempting and failing miserably to look annoyed. Beneath the glops of chunky potatoes dripping down his chin and sliding off the ends of his hair, it was easy to make out the easy smile on his face.

Joining in with the rest of the campers, I found my fingers reaching for a handful of food, and hurling it at him. Right on point, it splattered square on his lips, and he stuck out his tongue to lick it. I bent over clutching my stomach and doubling over in laughter.

I wished that it could have lasted all night. We haven't got that much fun since who-knows-how-long.

So it was kind of expected - because the fates always have something nasty planned when you're having a great time - when a chilly breeze which had nothing to do with the weather weaved through the crowd of campers, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.

The usually brightly lit pavilion dimmed such that it was difficult to make out the person in front of you. The temperature felt like it had dropped by a few degrees. The loud chatter and excitement died down into a hushed whisper.

It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Then, a raspy voice whispered:

 _A world where misery shall reign,_

 _Leaves all friendships forged lost in vain._

 _Where lives depend on choices made,_

 _Lest lead to suffering and hate._

 _Heart and head shall clash in despair,_

 _Yet choose you must, or darkness bares._

The silence lingered for a full minute. The lights had returned and the unnatural, chilly breeze had gone, but the campers were still in shock.

My mind was slow and sluggish, as though I was coming out of a dream. I just didn't know what to think. And as my senses started to come back into me, it was all my brain could do to make up a sentence.

It was a prophecy.

Then it clicked into place. This must be what Chiron had known about all along since last week, but had been procrastinating to tell it to us. The centaur must have really dreaded this moment, possibly hoping that it wasn't going to come so soon.

But it wasn't up to him to decide.

"That was the Oracle of Delphi!" Nea said in a hushed voice. "This must be what Chiron is going to talk about in the meeting later."

As if on cue, Chiron himself cantered into the dining pavilion. His face was etched with lines of worry.

"It is as I'd feared. The time has come, much sooner than I would like." He said softly.

"A quest?" I voiced.

Chiron looked at me. "Yes, you are right, Fairy. This calls for a quest."

"So, this has something to do with Achlys?" Nea asked.

The centaur nodded. "That's right. I received word from the gods on Olympus last night. She's been brewing something in the lair of hers. It could mean anything, of course, but the gods suspect that she has a plan to take over the world."

Marius, who was still standing on the Athena table covered with a layer of mashed potatoes, which was starting to dry up, and little bits of food crouched down so he wasn't so prominent.

But he spoke in a low tone, "and the prophecy pretty much confirms it, huh?"

Chiron turned to him. "Well, you could say that."

"But who's going to be in this quest, then?" an Athena boy said.

"I believe Kai Lequinte has requested - and I have agreed - to take up this quest." Chiron said clearly.

And he shifted a few paces to his side, revealing the daughter of Boreas wearing a white turtleneck under her usual red jacket and ripped jeans. Her chocolate brown hair was tied up in a hasty messy bun with a few strands hanging down the sides of her face. Her eyes were coal black (one of them was closed shut due to an injury which I never found out).

I didn't know Kai that well to be honest, which was saying something because I got along pretty well with many campers here.

Anyway, to sum it all up., the girl looked liked she was ready for anything.

"What?" Nea snapped. "How can _she_ just volunteer herself into the quest? That is not fair, Chiron!"

Many other campers were voicing out their displeasure at the sudden revelation.

Chiron had no choice but to hold up his hand and wait for everyone to calm down so that he could be heard above the noise.

"Listen, children." He said, "I have spoken to Kai about this. I agreed for her to be the leader of this quest. That is not arguable. But she will have to take at least two companions on this quest as per normal."

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 **Soooo how did you find this chapter? Maybe I could do the questions if you're unsure what to review.**

 **1) Thoughts on Fairy?**

 **2) Thoughts on the stupid prophecy that I took ages to make?**

 **3) How do you like the chapter so far?**

 **If you have anything else to comment on, just go ahead :) I hope I wrote Fairy okay. Still trying to get the hang of it.**


	3. Kai Lequinte: A Quest is Formed

**Thank you all for the wonderful support for my SYOC! I just wanna say that there was some problem with that didn't let me read the reviews on the site until only a couple of days ago. Other than that, I thought I'd reply to your awesome long reviews in the chapters, but if you prefer it to be done by PM, just let me know :)**

 **To _Magick From Your Heart_ : I'm really really glad you liked Fairy and the prophecy. As for the other characters, I'd get into more detail as we go along the story :)**

 **To** ** _Deadly Animals Are Cute_ : I really am sorry that your OC isn't in the story. As I've mentioned previously, I've got plenty of good submissions (which definitely included yours) and it was really hard to choose. I still feel really bad for those OCs that I can't use in the story, so I hope you understand. Okay, maybe I'd send a PM to each submitter the next time I decide to write and SYOT. I've no idea that you were actually waiting for a some sort of reply. I'd thought that by sending a reply, it'll be harder to reject OCs that I'm not going to use. Once again, I'm terribly sorry your OC isn't in, and thank you for the compliments :)**

 **To _MadnessAndMe_ : You liked the little competition? Score! Fairy's awesome, thanks to the wonderful author who wrote her. I didn't expect Kai to be the leader either, but after thinking about it, I thought it would be interesting. Thank you for the long review!**

 **To _SilverDiamonds_ : Hehe, you'll never guess what the prophecy means...;)**

 **To _HappyAnimalLover_ : I guess prophecies are always this confusing. There'll definitely be more character development as we go along :) I'm glad you liked and are still reading this even though your OC wasn't picked. Rain was a good submission by the way.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 **Kai Lequinte, 18, daughter of Boreas**

"I'm going!" a girl shouted quickly from the side. "I can be really useful in a quest. Who knows if you might need some fixing."

I identified that voice to belong to Fairy, and so I turned in her direction. She wasn't exactly hard to miss; you just couldn't miss her unless you were blind. She was really tall. Taller than all the girls in Camp Half-Blood, and taller than a fair few guys of her age. And to top that off, she was well built.

Now, look. I know Fairy is a nice person to hang out with sometimes. She's friendly, cheerful, and always there if you need someone to lighten your mood. But some part of me just felt queasy when she came too near. It wasn't only Fairy that made me feel a little bit shaky. In fact, it was the Hephaestus cabin.

They were children of the god of fires and forges. Just thinking about fire made my knees feel weak. Let's just say fire and I don't get along one bit.

"Um…" I said, clearing my throat.

How was I supposed to put my message across without hurting her feelings? Besides, I saw no need in launching off into a long and painful story about why I hated being near fire. No need to dull the spirits of the campers anyway. There was no need for all the negativity.

"I'm in too!" Nea shouted from the Athena table. "You'll need me to help you in this quest."

I resisted the strong urge to roll my eyes. Has Nea really not seen that we don't work well together? Fine. Maybe it's not her. Maybe it was me all along. But certainly do not appreciate the fact when others insist that their ideas were better, and never hear my own ideas out. Somehow, this applied more to the Athena campers than others.

I didn't really understand Chiron's need to have three campers go on a quest. I liked working alone. It gives me space to make my own decisions.

"What are your thoughts on Fairy and Nea going?" Chiron asked me.

"No." I said. "I don't mind Fairy coming along, but I don't think I can go along that well with Nea."

I sent an apologetic look in direction of the Athena table, especially at Nea. I felt guilty at having to reject her in front of everyone. But this quest was important.

Most of the Athena campers muttered in disapproval. Some of them even patted Nea lightly on the back in sympathy. I tried not to look in their way.

"But if Nea can't come with us on the quest, I won't want to go either." Fairy said quietly.

Ah crap. I wasn't expecting that to happen. They were close friends in camp, so I should have assumed this was going to happen.

Chiron locked his gaze on me, waiting for my verdict.

"Fine. You can come with us, Nea." I said, then turning to Fairy, "For you."

"Good, so now we have three demigods up for the quest." Chiron said to everyone at large, "any objections?"

There was some murmuring as the campers spoke in hushed voices, their eyes darting around to see if anyone had something to say on the matter. Personally, I crossed my fingers, hoping that no one would kick up a fuss.

Five seconds went by, and it seemed like I'd managed to get away with it.

Five more seconds came and went….perhaps it wasn't so bad after all. Having two other demigods on this quest with me to keep my company.

Five more…. I smiled inwardly - but then….

"Hey! Count me and Aden in!" shouted Nile from the Hermes table at the back.

I looked at Nile. I knew him as a friend. He was a pretty nice guy, who shared my hobby of sparring with a sword or in his case, two swords. To put it simpler, he was just a cool person to hang out with. Mischievous leaf-green eyes, long and wavy dirty blonde hair that was tied into a man-bun. And his trademark grin that was always in place everytime I happen to bump into him.

Nile Argall was like a brother to me.

Fun. Always cheerful guy. Pretty much what I am like...or at least _try_ to be like. But that's not important. The thing was: If he wanted to come along, I wasn't going to object.

As for Aden, well… I don't know him much at all. Sure, I'd seen him around sometimes during dinner or the campfire, but I never actually got to talk to him.

You see, there was this one time - about two days after he came to camp - I tried to make some friendly conversation just to break the ice and see how he was fitting in with the rest of us demigods. There we were, standing on the beach and gazing into the sea when I just posed him a simple question.

" _If you don't mind me asking, Aden, how did you find your way to the camp?" I said._

 _He spared me a glance to acknowledge me before fixing his eyes on the horizon._

" _Just...came." Aden shrugged._

There it was. Big conversation stopper. I haven't really got to talk to him since.

And right now, if he was volunteering to go on a quest with us, I really had no heart to reject that guy. Maybe from all the time we spent in this quest together, he'd slowly break out of his shell. Maybe we could be friends.

I'd made up my mind pretty quickly. "Okay, you two can come along too."

Nile pumped his fist into the air. "Awesome!" he said.

"Alright, now that you guys are done choosing your pals, it'll be _my_ turn to choose someone." I said.

Surprised at my pronouncement, everyone had their attention back on me. That included Nile, who'd just turned to Aden and ruffled his hair, earning a shove in retaliation from the latter.

Wow, really? As if it was not a normal sight to see the elected leader of the quest choose her own friends to come along with her. Fine, maybe I prefer to work on my own, relying only on my skills and abilities, but that does not mean I love to shove everyone away. I have my own bunch of close friends too.

Just seconds ago, looking at the adorable squabble between Nile and Aden had reminded me of a little conversation I'd had in the training arena last week. Anyway, last week, I was sparring with Marius just to make sure my sword fighting skills were up to scratch - mind you, he's the best person around here who can keep you always on your toes by pulling sneaky little tricks on you. That guy basically had knives stuck in the least expected place around his body and could pull one up on you if you were not carefull.

But that's not the point. The point was, after the sparring, he happened to mention something about wanting to ' _go explore a little outside_ ', and ' _hopefully be part of a quest soon_ '. I didn't really know what to say at that time, since quests are not issued all that often. Even if Chiron allowed a couple of campers to go for a quest, there was no saying that you'll be chosen to go along.

All I could say at the moment was to tell him that he'll have a chance eventually and that he just had to be patient.

Now that I was assigned the leader of this quest by Chiron, I could choose my own companions. Maybe I could help him out here. He'd owe me one.

"I'd like Marius to come with me on this quest." I announced.

Everyone hushed. I knew what they must be thinking: _Had Kai Lequinte lost her mind for choosing him over every other more worthy person to go for the quest? Marius was a generally nice guy, sure. Funny, the entertainer in the group. But when it comes to serious stuff like this quest? You choose a guy who puts himself first over others? It spells out 'DISASTER' in capital letters._

Marius whooped, but after realising that everyone seemed to be stunned, he said, "What? Is there something on my face? Why does everyone look so shocked?"

That was it. Everyone burst out in laughter, some of them clutching their stomachs as they looked at him. There really was dried Mashed Potatoes stuck to his face from the earlier food fight.

I turned to look at Chiron to see his reaction to my choice, and the centaur gave a curt nod and a small smile. It wasn't a reassuring smile that meant that I'd made a right choice, but at least it meant that Chiron approved of my decision.

"Well, if that's all," Chiron raised his voice to address the campers, "The six questers - Fairy Cooper, Nea Whitley, Nile Argall, Aden Sennett and Marius Evans, led by Kai Lequinte, will get ready and leave for your quest by tonight. You all better get your stuff packed immediately."

I was the first to leave the dining pavilion. If we were going to leave in less than an hour, I wanted to make sure that I had packed all my necessary stuff. However, on the way across the courtyard to the Boreas cabin, Marius caught up with me.

"Hey, Kai, wait up." he said.

I didn't stop walking, but I shortened my strides. "I thought you were the one who told me that you wished you had the chance to go on a quest?"

He jogged a little to keep up with my pace. "Yeah, yeah. So thanks."

I smiled, but in the evening light, I doubt he could see it. "Well, then. You owe me one, Marius."

He humphed but laughed and ran away back to the Aphrodite cabin. Now that he was gone, I too, hastened my steps towards my cabin, located just beside the forest lining. It wasn't much. From the outside, It looked like a normal cabin. A little shabby, made of large rocks that let the wind seep through. It was windier than usual on the inside.

I grabbed my clothes and sweater which I hoped would keep me warm on my nights spent outdoors. I threw my toothbrush, and toiletries into a backpack. Snatched a small water bottle and chucked into the pack too. I thought of bringing a weapon, but decided against it since I could manipulate ice - came along with being a daughter of Boreas - I could literally craft it again when I needed it.

I packed a few squares of ambrosia and a little flask of nectar before zipping up my backpack. Slinging it on one shoulder, I started to walk out of my cabin. But just as I opened the door to my cabin to step out, a small picture caught the corner of my eye. My breath hitched.

I stopped in my tracks and took the framed passport sized photo down from the wall. It was a picture of me about eight years old, with my arms around my little two year old brother Gerald. We were smiling, and one of my hands reached out from the view of the photo as I held the camera in front of us to take a selfie. Gerald had managed to blink his eyes as the photo was taken.

Even as a smile formed on my face from that memory, I felt my heart ache and tears started to well up in my eye, misting up my vision. I held the picture to my chest, not wanting to let go or to forget Gerald. I wished I could just erase the horrific last time I'd seen him. His usual black eyes had been replaced by an eerie strange gold which I later learnt was the sign that someone was possessed by Eidolons.

That night, I'd done something so terrible. That night, I'd discovered my powers to control ice. That night, I'd killed him, along with my abusive mother. That night, was one that I wanted to forget.

I stowed the picture of Gerald and me into my jeans pocket, wiped off the tear tracks on my face, shouldered my backpack, and strode out of my cabin, heading to the entrance of Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

 **Thanks to** ** _MadnessAndMe_ for the creation of Kai! I hope I did a good job writing her.**

 **Please review! Some questions:**

 **1) Thoughts on Kai?**

 **2) Rough thoughts on the brief glimpses of Nile and Aden?**

 **3) Scream yourself hoarse on whatever random thing you wanna scream about? HAHAHAHA!**


	4. Nile Argall: Into the Night

**Hello everyone! Thanks a million for the many lovely reviews and I'm back with the next chapter :) But before that, let me get to replying you guys' reviews.**

 **To _SilverDiamonds_ : Hmm...you'll see about that...just you wait ;) And you're right, this chapter is Nile's POV.**

 **To _HappyAnimalLover_ : Kai and Nea's relationship is definitely something I'd love to expand on in the future chapters! And yes, Kai is a really interesting character...actually, all of them are. Kudos to the submitters :)**

 **To _MadnessAndMe_ : Yes they are! Besties :) Love writing the big brother bromance between Nile and Aden too! Also, thanks for the awesomely long review!**

 **To _Thedaffodilqueen_ : Glad you liked Fairy :) She was a little hard to write though.**

 **To _Magick From Your Heart_ : Awh, your review really made my day :) Have this grin stuck on my face for the rest of the day :) Glad you love the chapter!**

 **To _Blood Sentry_ : WOW! You review long...you review good. I did notice that I gave more backstory to Kai than to Fairy. But I'll make sure I give her more depth in the future. And oh yeah, didn't know what I was thinking when I made those mistakes, but thanks for pointing them out! I don't usually proofread after I write (no time), I just leave it to Word to do minor grammar and typo mistakes. I do hope you like this chapter though ;)**

* * *

 **Nile Argall, 19, son of Hermes**

"You're in! You're in, you're in, you're in!" Screamed my half-brother in my ear. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

Ignoring the fact that my ears were ringing from the shouts and squeals of my excited cabin mates, I nodded and tried to speak over the noise, "Yeah I know, I'm in for another adventure, huh?"

They yelled something incomprehensible and thumped him hardly on the back.

"Make sure you tell us everything that happened when you come back." pleaded his half-sister Lizzy, clinging on to his arm.

"I will. You'll wait here for me, right?" I said, patting her shoulders.

The cabin was more chaotic than usual tonight. That's saying something because the Hermes cabin was chaotic most of the time. People rushing around looking for stuff that they think I would need on my quest. It was hard to move around this crowded cabin without walking straight into someone or being jostled around.

So in the end, I gave up sliding pass people with words of 'excuse me' and let them do the packing for me. Sitting at the edge of my bunk, I inspected my twin curved blades. Olamilekan and Cadwalader had been with me for as long as I can remember. Every quest I went, they'd been by my side. I trusted them. Their blades were well balanced and they fitted snugly in my hand.

Since my blades were in pretty good condition - I'd just maintained them two weeks ago - I sheathed them in a X across my back. Those were going to come in handy during the quest some time or another.

I'd just leaned back to flop on the bed when I heard the knob of the cabin door turn. Immediately, I felt my heart sink a little. Even my other half-siblings quietened down. I was right. The door opened, revealing the leader of the Hermes cabin, Wayne, standing under the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, well. What have we here?" He drawled.

"Nile has just been chosen to go on a quest!" Lizzy said excitedly, not knowing that she was treading on thin ice. She clutched a fully packed backpack tightly in her arms.

"Is that right, little Niley? Of all people, you?" Wayne asked, his eyes locked on mine.

I stood up. There was no point arguing or talking back to Wayne. If he wanted to take it out on you, he'd take it out on you whatever you do. It would be best to leave before things turned from bad to worse. Unless….of course….Wayne himself was blocking my only exit.

I snatched my long sleeved, dark brown jacket from the end of my bed and wore it over my three-quarter sleeved Camp Half-Blood shirt.

"Look, Wayne. I really don't want to argue with you." I said, before adding, "And the name is Nile."

I slid my feet into comfortable dark brown leather boots and pulled on matching fingerless gloves, just as Wayne took a step towards me, planting himself right in my face.

Unconsciously, I stumbled back a few paces, which I later hated myself for doing it. _Great, Nile, now you've proved to him that you're scared._

 _I'm not._ My head defended. _He's just invading my personal space._

"Okay, _Nile_." Wayne said, snatching the backpack out of Lizzy's protective grip. "I just wanted to send you off. Have a nice trip….I mean quest. And I hope you never come back!"

He hurled the backpack straight at me. And if it wasn't for my fast reflexes, my face would've been smashed by it, but I managed to catch it by the strap and shoved past Wayne to get out of the cabin.

"Bye Nile!" My other half-brother Hayden called out. "Come back soon and replace Wayne as Cabin Leader, yeah?"

Wayne's face was furious as he yelled, "Out! Get out and never come back!"

I snorted, but waved back at my siblings. Cabin Leader? My Hermes siblings had always have fun speculating about making me Cabin Leader, but I never once considered it. Never in a million years. Leading was not my thing. Way too much pressure if you know what I mean. I couldn't take the responsibility.

Anyway, the rest of the questers said they'd get ready and meet at the entrance to Camp Half-Blood in half an hour.

Wait a minute, where is the entrance again?

Oh right. Right down _that_ way. I know, I know. Stuff like directions and navigation aren't my kind of thing. Don't laugh.

As I walked up Half-Blood Hill, I squinted into the shadows. I could make up four people standing at the peak of the hill. But in the dim light, it was impossible for me to make out who was who.

And there was Aden, halfway up the hill, hoisting a slingbag over his shoulders. I smiled, glad that I managed to get him in this quest. He was like a little brother to me, even though he was just two years younger. I've always felt a tad protective over him, although honestly, he can certainly manage himself.

"Hey, Lucky Charm!" I shouted and waved at Aden when he turned. "All ready for this quest huh?"

I could tell he was rolling his eyes.

"This was your idea." Aden pointed out. "I'll be getting back on you.. Just you wait."

"Oh, come on!" I said. "Don't tell me you aren't even a little excited to be on this quest?"

Now that he was near enough, he elbowed me in my ribs.

He cracked a smile. "Fine, I am. But I'm still gonna get back on you."

I laughed. "Whatever, Lucky Charm."

"Shut it, Niley."

* * *

We reached the others at the top of the hill to hear the others discussing on their plans.

"We need to start somewhere," Nea was saying, "Chiron didn't give us much to go on."

Kai nodded, although she wasn't really looking at Nea. "We need to know more information. Like how much time we've got to stop Achlys before she takes over completely. Someone must be able to tell us something…. _anything_."

"We can't ask the gods, though. They never want to help us demigods, even though we're technically trying to solve _their_ problems." Fairy said.

"Useless little shits." Marius mumbled under his breath. Thunder rumbled from above, and I couldn't help but laugh.

They succumbed into silence. Not knowing how to start.

"Hang on…." Aden said, putting up his hand and causing everyone to turn in his direction in surprise.

"Almost all the gods won't help us. But maybe there are those one or two that might. Not all of them are that hopeless." Aden said. "Maybe we could ask a nicer god."

"Like who?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Of course!" Nea slapped a hand to her forehead. "You're a genius, Aden! I think I know one who might help us. Except I don't know where to find him."

Marius groaned, "can we all stop talking in riddles, please? I have no idea which god you're referring to."

Pointing at what Marius just said, I smiled, "I'm with him."

"Apollo." Nea said in a tone that gave me the feeling that it was obvious. "He's pretty nice….sometimes. I'd say if we've got to ask a god for help, it'll be him."

"O-okay." Marius said. "Now we've got that sorted, does anybody know where to find Apollo?"

Kai replied immediately, "I think I know how. Since Apollo is the god of the sun and music, we should be heading to a place which is sunny and with music."

"That would be…?" Fairy trailed off.

"Bingo!" Marius said, slamming his fist into his other hand. "There's a chalet not too far from here. It has people partying twenty-four seven. Bound to have music. We could get there, and wait till the morning when it's bright and sunny."

"Great!" Kai said. "That's a start."

"Now, does anyone have a car?" Fairy said.

All five of them turned their heads slowly in my direction, it was clear what they were thinking.

"Okay, okay, guys." I said slowly. "I know you know I have a stolen car. But the thing is, I don't have a license. We'll get caught."

Nea looked surprised. "Then how and why did you steal a car when you can't drive one?"

"Teleportation remember?" I defended. "I teleported to a car wholesaler, snagged one, and teleported back. I was going to sell it for some money, not drive it."

"So amongst us, who can drive? Doesn't matter if we have a licence or not. It's late at night. No one will ever see us." Kai said.

"Never driven before. Don't wanna try." Fairy said simply.

Kai looked at Marius, "Can you drive? After all, you know where this chalet is."

Marius gave us a thoughtful look. His hands stuffed deeply in his pockets.

"Fine. I'll drive." He said finally, shoving his hand in under my nose, waiting for the car key. "But don't blame me if it's a rough ride."

"Cool." I said, dropping the keys in his palm and thumping him on the back. "Let's get moving!"

It was a smooth ride. Marius sat in the driver's seat, while I sat beside him in the front. The back seats were packed by Kai, Nea, Fairy and Aden. It was a black convertible, so Marius winded down the windows to let in the fresh air.

We drove for around an hour before I felt my legs starting to cramp. I turned around to see how the others were doing at the back, only to find all of them asleep. I, too, was starting to feel drowsy, but I had to attempt to navigate Marius to our destination with a large map propped on my lap.

Keyword: _Attempt_.

Mind you, that was disastrous. We've probably went in circles for all we know. I told Marius that he should probably rely on his own instincts to get there, but he said he wasn't too sure about the way. He only had a rough idea where the chalet was located.

I sighed and look back at the map, wondering why I'd got myself to sit in front in the first place. Literally anyone else would've done a better job at giving directions than me.

I was humming a little tune in my head to keep myself awake when I noticed the car trailing off the road to the right. The wheels on the left side had gone up the grass. For a moment, I wondered what Marius was trying to do, because if we turn a bit more to the right, we'd be in danger of crashing the trees.

Just as I was about to ask him what on Hades was he thinking, I realised his eyes were closed.

He'd dozed off.

While driving.

Horrified, I froze for a second, which was definitely not the right thing to do right now.

My instincts took over. I reached out to make a grab for the steering wheel to steady the car. As I did so, I managed to shove Marius out of his sleep. He looked confused at first, as though wondering how he got in a car at first, but then he came to his senses quick enough to take over the wheel.

"Dude! Eyes on the road! You're gonna get us all killed, man!" I said.

He looked apologetic. "Sorry! I'm just really really tired right now." He looked out of the window at a cluster of lights coming from a series of small shabby hut on the left. "I think we've reached."

Loud music filled the air. Disco lights were thrown everywhere. There were people - teenagers and adults alike - dancing and partying and drinking everywhere along the beach.

"Guys! Wake up! We've reached the chalet!" I yelled to the back.

"Perfect." Kai said, rubbing her eyes blearily. "Let's go on and rent a hut and wait till morning."

They all left the car parked at the side of the road and unloaded all our bags. Aden and I followed behind.

"Damn, it's a party." Aden said dully. "I _totally_ love parties."

I ruffled his hair. "C'mon buddy. It'll be fine. We won't be here too long."

* * *

 **Thanks to** ** _Blood Sentry_ for creating Nile! He's wonderful to write :)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Reviews:**

 **1) Thoughts on Nile?**

 **2) Any possible pairing you think might happen? Hmm...**

 **3) Overall thoughts on chapter?**


	5. Nea Whitley: Party Time!

**And I'm back with yet another chapter!**

 **To** ** _SilverDiamonds_ : About that teleportation thing, yeah, it was actually explained in the submission, but I didn't think we should go into it at the moment. What's up with the squinty eyes anyway ;P**

 **To _MadnessAndMe_ : Hahaha! I actually wanted it to be Aden's POV at first, but then I felt the story might flow better with Nea's. So that's how we got here :) I'm amazed that you saw the tweak with the chapter names! I thought no one would ever notice.**

 **To _Magick From Your Heart_ : Guess you'll find out what happens at the party in this chapter :)**

 **To _Blood Sentry_ : You know what? I love your awesome super long reviews. And most of all, I was so dam stunned that you can actually guess what I was planning in this chapter. I mean, CAN YOU READ MINDS OR SOMETHING? Maybe it was a bit obvious what I was gonna do. I don't know. Anyway, I hope you like it even though it won't be too much of a surprise.**

 **Once again, thank you everyone for the lovely reviews :)**

* * *

 **Nea Whitley, 17, daughter of Athena**

The chalet was packed. Luckily for us, the lady at the reception managed to find us an empty room. She was annoyed at first, saying that we should've pre-booked a room a week in advance so that there was no last minute hassle. But that's that, and we've got a room anyway.

The room wasn't too shabby either. Sure it wasn't quite suited to fit all six of us, but it was decent, had two bedrooms and a cozy living room. Add a mini kitchen to that too.

We figured it was okay since after all, we would just be staying here for a night before making a move again in the morning after we've found Apollo.

I handed out the room card to the others, who were sitting - and some of them were actually dozing off - on a large sofa waiting for me to come back.

"Finally." Marius said, rubbing his eyes and trying to get to his feet. "I'll see you guys back in the room. Goodnight."

Nile, who was sitting beside him, rolled his eyes and shoved him back in his seat.

"Okay, now that we're out of camp, we have to be much more on the alert." I said. "A pool of six demigods out in the open, monsters are bound to sniff us out."

"Sure." Fairy said. "We have to look out for one another. If you notice one of us are missing, don't go running off on your own. Report back to us and we'll think of a plan."

"Right. Teamwork." Kai summarised and I had the feeling she wasn't too keen on this whole 'teamwork' topic.

I crossed my arms and gave a pointed look. Kai just gave me a shrug in return.

"So," I said, "if a group of us wants to rest in the room tonight, we've got to have another small group of us to keep a lookout."

"Sleeping." Marius said with his eyes closed and head propped up on the back of the sofa.

"Fine." I huffed, momentarily wondering why on Gaia had Kai wanted him to come along. Oh wait, sure, it was Kai I was talking about.

It wasn't Kai who came to his defense through. Nile did. "Hey! While you guys slept in the car for most of the drive, Marius and I were trying to keep our eyes peeled to get you here."

"Who else wants to take a rest back in our room with Marius?" I said in a bored tone.

"Me." Nile said.

"And count me in too." Aden said.

I waited for more of them to declare that they wanted to nap, but none of them did.

"Great." Kai said with a hint of a smile on her face. "Proves that us girls are way stronger than the guys."

I couldn't help but feel grudgingly that she was right. We've got a bunch of weakling with us on the quest. Just great, isn't it?

* * *

We girls didn't hang around to party together. Kai suggested that we split up to take a look around as well as search for Apollo, which I thought was useless seeing that Apollo would only be out in the morning, if he even came to chalets though.

But since I couldn't standing being in the vicinity with Kai always disagreeing with me, I thought maybe she was right, and we should split up. Besides, I liked having some space to myself. Helps me clear my head and think about what we should do after we've found Apollo.

"Would you like a drink, Miss?" A pretty girl clad in a white apron and carrying a tray filled with glasses said. I assumed she was a waitress.

"No thank you." I said kindly.

I've never been to a party before. Not even those that teenagers go after school with their friends. I didn't have many friends in school before I even found out I was a demigod and got shipped out to Camp.

Many people would say that they feel lonely when they didn't have many friends. But honestly, I didn't mind. What's the use of having friends when you could do anything by yourself? Correct, you've got it right. No use.

I was brought back to the present by the waitress again.

"It's just water, Miss." she said sweetly. "Helps to refresh your mind."

I shook my head. "Thanks for offering, but I don't need one right now. I'll let you know if I need one."

The waitress didn't look disappointed from the rejection. She just smiled and walked away.

Rule Number Two: Don't accept drinks from anyone especially if you're in a party. They're usually spiked.

And unless you want to end up drunk and out of control of your own self - which just by thinking of it makes me feel wobbly inside - don't take a drink.

I continued to push through the crowd who was dancing to the blaring music and waving their arms the the air, lost in the depths of the song.

I was just about to look for Fairy when both Kai and Fairy tapped me on the shoulder. Kai was holding a half drunk glass of water in a hand while Fairy was pulling her along.

"Nea, you've got to hear what Kai told me." She said excitedly. "Kai said she spotted Mr D at the bar and gave her a lead. I wasn't there though, I only found out when I bumped into her a few minutes later."

I arched my eyebrows, "Really? What did you and Mr D talk about then?"

I pondered about how likely it was to run into Mr D by accident at a place like this. Lots of wine, a rowdy environment. It all seemed quite probable that Mr D would be around. Besides, this chalet was not too far away from Camp Half-Blood.

"Well, we talked for a bit. He was quite reluctant to give much information, saying that Olympus was kind of in a mess now that Achlys was causing trouble. Even the gods were being secretive." Kai said.

"Aaaand?" I moved my hand in a circular motion to get her to tell me more.

"I told him we were looking for Apollo and asked him if he knew where Apollo might be."

Fairy cut in, "And apparently Apollo hasn't been seen in a really long time. Months. Disappeared without a trace. Artemis has even called her Hunters to search for him. This seems pretty serious, don't you think?"

I nodded slowly. If Apollo was gone, we couldn't ask him to help us. That leaves us with just one god who could help us. A god that I wasn't too fond of.

Mr D. Dionysus, the god of wine.

"Hmmm…." I turned to Kai. "Can you show me where Mr D is? I'd like to talk to him."

"No." She replied simply.

"How come?" I said. "I thought we agreed we'd do things together?"

She glared at me, which I hated to admit, but was pretty intimidating. "I can't show you where he is because he left this party."

I was at a loss for words for a minute. I wasn't someone who trusted others easily. Now I was left with this chunk of information from Kai which could either be true, in which case was some help to our quest, or totally made up.

Still deciding whether or not to believe everything about Mr D being here, I was interrupted by yet another waitress holding up a fully filled tray of drinks.

"Would you lovely girls care for a glass of water?" She said, before adding with a wink. "Party is pretty hot, isn't it?"

I cringed at the way she said it. I politely refused the drink, and she turned to Kai and Fairy.

"What about the pair of you? Here's a glass." She lifted one glass off her tray and held it out to Fairy.

Fairy shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. I'm getting thirsty anyway."

Kai gave a cheery smile at the waitress. "I would take one. But I've had a glass already." She held up the empty glass that she was holding.

The waitress nodded, then walked away, offering drinks to the other people at the party.

I blinked. Dazed for a moment. What was I thinking about before the lady interrupted? My mind felt foggy, which was really weird. Being a usually focused person, I was confused as to how quickly distracted I was.

Kai looked at Fairy, who was slowly swirling the water around in the glass.

"You know, the water actually tastes sweet. It helps you loosen up." She said.

Fairy gave her a thoughtful look. "Hmm...I could do with some relaxing."

My mind whipped back into it's normal state at their exchange. Water? Sweet? What was Rule Number Two regarding accepting drinks from a stranger at a party?

It could be _spiked_.

I reacted instinctively. As Fairy raised the glass to her lips to tip the seemingly innocent water into her mouth, My hand flew towards her, knocking the glass hard and startling her, causing Fairy to suddenly release her grip on the glass of water, sending the glass and it's contents falling to the floor.

The clear liquid splattered all over the floor. The glass shattered into a million tiny fragments which sprayed in all directions.

And even in a noisy environment such as this, I noticed that the sound of the glass shattering had been heard by everyone in a five meter radius around us. They had stopped dancing, and looked at the commotion we'd made.

"What did you do that for?" Fairy whispered at me.

"Do you always have to ruin the fun?" Kai demanded.

I wasn't even offended by her remark, since I was still a little in shock that many of the people at this party was probably drugged. We could've become drugged like one of them too - Kai had even had a glass already - and it was so early in our quest.

"Guys! The drinks are spiked. It's drugged. That's probably why the people looked so dazed and happy at this party." I said.

"Woah, woah, woah." Fairy said, doing a timeout sign with her hands. "You're saying that everyone who drinks this stuff are not themselves?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying."

"Hang on. But I've drunk a glass and I still know what I'm doing." Kai said.

I agreed. "Sure you do. But give it a while when the effects wear off, and you can tell that you've felt different. You're already drugged right now."

"Okay." Kai shrugged. "But I'm telling you I won't feel any different."

I needed to get us moving. I could see a reddish glow on the horizon. It was going to be sunrise in a few moments. However, right now, I had another problem. If Kai had drunk the 'water' when she said that she talked with Mr D, how could I know for sure if what she said was not because she was affected by the drug?

"Kai, I need you to tell me clearly, what else did Mr D tell you?" I said firmly.

"He told me everything will be over in three days. That's when Achlys planned to take over. She wants a full out revenge on the world because they never gave her any credit. They felt she was useless and a 'total waste of space' since she is the goddess of misery and sadness. No one wants any of those, see?" Kai said.

"What does Achlys plan to do? Did Mr D also say anything on that matter?" Fairy asked.

"Oh yeah." Kai remembered. "Mr D told me that if we don't stop Achlys in three days, the world will start to die out. Achlys wants to shroud the entire Earth in a blanket of darkness. She's snuff the life out of everyone. It'll be the end of the world."

I pondered on what Mr D said, and saw a connection, "That must be why he captured Apollo. There'll be no one to ride the sun chariot every day. She's putting her plan into action."

Fairy clapped her hands together. "You've got it!"

"But I don't understand one part." I said. "If Apollo has been captured by her for months already, how is it there's still sunrise?"

I pointed at the sun which had already started to rise.

"Easy." Kai said. "Mr D told me that Apollo's sister, Artemis, had been helping him do it. But she gets weaker and frailer with each day she helps him. Right now, she's very weak. She can barely walk on her own. Her hunters has had to carry her around. That's why Mr D says it will all end in three days."

I knew what Kai said was true. This couldn't possibly be all made up. Everything made sense. It fitted well. Too well. Now we knew about Achlys plan, we still didn't know how to stop it. We have to make a move. In three days, this would be all for nothing if we didn't find and stop Achlys.

"C'mon. Let's find the guys and get out of this stupid party." I said.

If I thought it was going to be easy, I was so terribly wrong. I'd totally forgotten about the waitresses who'd offered us the 'water'. As we shoved through the crowd of people, my eyes caught sight of the apron clad waitresses converging in on us. Their stunningly beautiful faces held a menacing side to them.

I quickened my steps as I pushed through the crowd. My hand subconsciously fingered the metal bangle on by left hand, which was actually my sword in disguise form.

* * *

 **Action scene is coming right up. Sit tight for the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed this :) I know the guys are not really in this chapter, but I'll bring them back in the next!**

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